Billy McDill the Artichoke Lover

07:48 pm: End of 2008 MeMe
End of 2008 MeMe
40 Questions about 2008: An End-of-the-year meme
1. What did you in 2008 that you’d never done before?
Spawned my first love child, touched a placenta, quit the Army, became incorporated became a gubment employee civilian-style.
2. Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I fell short on some life goals I had. My goal to run my own business when Uncle Sam's Sirens sang to me... And I feared failure.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope, but Stacy's close.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Nope.
5. What countries did you visit
Just the states but traveled to 8+ states
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
Not so much money worries. And not so much life fear, but that might not go away.
7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory?
Sitting in a strangers office waiting for my seperation paperwork. She had left me alone at her desk and I was looking outside the window and I realized, "Wow. This is it. After ten years its finally over." That day and the day She jumped on top of me showing me the dip stick that had the clearly showed the word, Pregnant.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Having good sperm, Winning an Emmy (a year earlier than expected), Winning an RTNDF fellowship, and having a good job lined up for the Monday after I left the Army.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Not writing my family enough. Selling 60 days of surplus Army leave. Not kicking ass at my new job right from the get go.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
other than getting kinda fat nothing really.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Emmy entries and cribs
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
my wife, she's such a great mother/lover/person
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
No one really.
14. Where did most of your money go?
I really can't tell. cars, cocaine and loose women. j/k.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Baby fever mos def! Starting a new and challenging job. Leaving a job I really loved.
16. What song/album will always remind you of 2004?
Mp3s of this american life. Ira Glass' voice.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
1. Happier or sadder? Happier
2. Thinner or fatter? Fatty Bumbalatti
3. Richer or poorer? Poorer but I'm gonna fix that this year
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
written those damn letters, found financial discipline
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
random crap.
20. How did you spend Christmas?
With Stacy and her family
21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?
Moose
22. Did you fall in love in 2008?
fell in love again and again
23. How many one night stands in this last year?
EVERY night is a one-night stand
24. What was your favourite TV programme?
Battlestar Galactica, Californication, Entourgage (sometimes), True Blood
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Nope
26. What was the best book(s) you read?
I didn't read anything that wowed me.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
this year? This american life on Itunes
28. What did you want and get?
Little Gold Statues, Lieutenant Colonel pay
29. What did you want and not get?
experience with After Effects
30. What were your favourite films of this year?
Slumdog Millionaire
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I can't remember what I did.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
If I had gotten rid of credit debt.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?
A very good selection of business casual with individuality thrown in.
34. What kept you sane?
TAL and kicking babies.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
IRA Glass
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
the prez
37. Who did you miss?
My old work
38. Who was the best new person you met?
My whole new crew
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
The role of a producer and the role of the husband during child birth
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your yeah
Getting Crispy with the Rock

12:57 pm: NPPA News Video Workshop
Praise the Lord!!! I've seen the magic of John Hyjek. I understand eye movement edits, and now everything is so much clearer. A fog no longer clouds my vision.

NPPA is blowing my mind right now. We are working 14 hour days and the critiques are BRUTAL.

Love it.

12:21 pm: Capital Bunnies Blog
For those that enjoy the Capital Bunnies posts, Stinkypants and Boy now have their own blog:
www.capitalbunnies.typepad.com

02:49 pm: Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas from Pants and Boy

( Couldn't help but take advantage of our great weather )

Tags: stinkypants boy capital bunnies

12:37 am: Capital Bunnies Wish you a Merry Christmas

At the Alexandria Pet Smart

( Read more )

11:41 pm: Capital Bunnies III
Stinkypants and Boy are back at it.



Tags: d.c. bunnies stinkypants and boy

12:49 am: My God!
How have I never seen the Battlestar Galactica Season One Pilot?

If I was a weaker man there would be love spunk everywhere!

08:21 pm: Movie MeMe from nounsandverbs
1 - Look up TEN of your favorite movies on IMDB (only 10!).
2 - Click the "trivia" link in the sidebar.
3 - Post a fun and random bit of trivia from each film.

 1.  Pulp Fiction

Jules's character was originally written to have a gigantic afro, but a crewmember obtained a variety of afro wigs and one jheri curl wig. Quentin Tarantino had never thought about a jheri curl wig, but Samuel L. Jackson tried it on, Tarantino liked it, and it was kept.

I must say Jackson does a fine jheri curl.

2.  Shallow Grave

Such were the budgetary constraints on this shoot, the production had to auction off various props in order to raise enough money to buy essential film stock needed to complete the picture

I didn't know it was that low budget.

 

3. Exorcist

The "Exorcist steps", 75 (or 74 - one is very small) stone steps at the end of M-Street in Georgetown, were padded with 1/2"-thick rubber to film the death of Father Damien Karras. The stuntman tumbled down the stairs twice. Georgetown University students charged people around $5 each to watch the stunt from the rooftops.

I live like 15 minutes from there.

4.  Saturday Night Fever

Film critic Gene Siskel often referred to Saturday Night Fever as his favorite film. He saw it 17 times and at one time owned the famous "white suit".

Its weird imagining Siskel wearing that suit.  Some creepy role playing probably.

5.  Fried Green Tomatoes

Carol Sobieski wrote the first draft of the screenplay, which the director and producers thought were wonderful - but it wasn't the movie they wanted to do. Next, Fannie Flagg was brought on to do another draft and she finished seventy pages before quitting. With no money left to hire another writer, director Jon Avnet took it upon himself to write the screenplay and spent the next three years doing so. He did, however, stay in close contact with Flagg to make sure he stayed true to her book.

I wonder what a life like that is like.

6.  Akira

The movie consists of 2,212 shots and 160,000 single pictures, 2-3 times more than usual, using 327 different colors (another record in animation film), 50 of which were exclusively created for the film. The reason for this statistic is that most of the movie takes place at night, a setting that is traditionally avoided by animators because of the increased color requirements.

7. Hard Days Night

Once Ringo Starr's line "A Hard Day's Night" was confirmed as the movie's title, it was put to music by John Lennon and Paul McCartney with participation of George Harrison and Ringo Starr. The Beatles collectively composed the song that same night, playing it the next morning to producer Walter Shenson in their dressing room.

8. Clockwork Orange

This film was shot almost entirely on real locations as opposed to sets and was lit almost entirely with a Lowell Kit, a staple for film students, perhaps as a reaction against the huge apparatus needed for Stanley Kubrick's previous film, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).

God I hate lighting an news interview with a Lowell light kit, imagine a whole movie.

9.  Ferris Bueller's Day Off

John Cusack, Jim Carrey, Johnny Depp, Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Jr. and Michael J. Fox were all considered for the role of Ferris Bueller.

Yeah I don't think that would work out.

10.  Something About Mary


The studio was initially reluctant to allow Ben Stiller - the Farrelly Brother's first choice - to star, so the brothers decided upon a then-unknown 'Owen Wilson' instead. When the studio were even more reluctant to let Wilson star, they agreed for the Farrellys to cast Stiller.

Yeah, I don't see that one either

04:06 pm: Some questions from me(me) to you


you're on my friends list & 'd like to know 27 things about you. [27!]

simply post a comment to this post with the answers. you'll be surprised how much you didn't know about your friends after this! thanks in advance!

1. Do you have a tattoo?
2. How old are you?
3. Are you single or taken?
4. Eat with your hands or utensils?
5. Do you dream at night?
6. Ever seen a corpse?
7. George Strait or Jay Z?
8. How did we meet?
9. What's your philosophy on life and death?
10. If you could do anything with me, and have no one know, what would it be?
11. Do you trust the police?
12. Do you like Country music?
13. What is your fondest memory of me?
14. If you could change anything about yourself what would it be?
15. Would you cheat?
16. What do you wear to sleep?
17. Have you ever peed in a pool?
18. Would you hide evidence for me if I asked you to?
19. If I only had one day to live, what would we do together?
20. Which do you prefer - short or long hair?
21. Do you sing in the shower?
22. What's your favorite color?
23. If you could bring back anyone that has passed, who would it be?
24. Tell me one interesting/odd fact about you?
25. What was your first impression of me?
26. Have you ever done drugs?
27. Will you post this so I can fill it out for you? feeling:

12:34 pm: Where were you?

12:47 am: I've found a new love in my life.
I've found some new love in my life!! And its called Classic Rock.   I was in Times Square last week covering a wounded warrior who was invited to participate in "the Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp."  A nine thousand dollar week long jam session with some notable Rock Gods.  I came with the intention of telling the story of this Soldier and in the end I ended up learning so much more...

First it started off with hearing Mountain's "Mississippi Queen" for the first time.  My god!  That song is almost 40 years old and  it pulled and  tugged at every angsty chord I have.   For us  90s kids its like hearing  "Cherub Rock" for the first time.   Just so much fucking power.  I got to talk with Corky Laing the drummer who co-wrote the song and he's just such a physical guy on his kit.  I can't imagine what Peart is like in person because Corky just sounds massive. 

Then there is Leslie West, the lead singer/guitarist of Mountain.  At first, and I'm sure I'm not the first, I was judgemental in West appearnce.  He has this Andy Warhal kind of aura about him.  Made me think of body painting and brie.  So at first he goes and dedicates a solo song to the troops.  It was Bob Dylan's "Blowing in the Wind." um... yeah. When he opened his mouth it was like Thor's Hammer striking the Earth.  I mean it was just fucking massive.  I couldn't do anything but just be captivated from there on out.

One day I had finished interviewing Paul Stanley of KISS and was sticking around for the late-night jam sessions.  Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad is up there and he's playing another song I've never heard, "I'm your Captain."  He goes into the chorus of "I"m getting closer to my home."  and I am floored.  He's played this song probably every night since before I was born and man, it still had so much... soul.  I mean how lucky can you be to pluck a song like that out of thin air and hold it close to you for years and years.  I mean Vanilla Ice has to "stop collaborate and listen."  And EMF has to suffer through long nights of "Unbelievable."  But the connection and warmth of Farmer's delivery just had me jealous as hell...

Then there was Glen Hughes of Deep Purple.  When we talked he kept saying he needed 8 hours of sleep to maintain his voice.  At first it I thought he sounded like he smoked too much.  I mean while in conversation.  On the final night, he got up on stage and I became a true believer.  I guess, Stevie Wonder once said Hughes is his favorite white singer.  I mean here is a Britt with the full accent, just destroying "Superstitious"  I didn't get the full song list but his voice could only be described as Rock God.

Classic Rock was never my Genre.  Never the thing I could fall in love with but Damn I am a true beliver!

08:32 am: Just back from another week at Fort Benning, GA
It was a good trip.  In my quest for "Good TV" I found myself talking to the camera, being held down in a choke hold and eventually tazered.  My shooting partner looked at me like I was crazy, but once the idea inched its way into my little pea pod there was no way I'd not get stun gunned.

Unfortunatly, Benning greeted us with the hottest week in five years.  Shooting seven stories in five days with a heat index of 110 about beat the stuffings out of me.  I haven't sweat like that since Iraq.  But was impressed with how we worked as a team.  I was the big idea guy and he usually smoothed out the finer details.  Except for two stories believe we really raised the bar in how our community should shoot stories.  We got working interviews, interactive stand ups, really nice rack focuses, honest interviews, set up surprises, interesting interview shots,  intriguing opening shots, used fast shutter speeds and of course, I got my ass screaming on camera.

Some things I'm still missing as a producer/shooter.  I'm still impatient and I still rush when the time comes.  For instance, we were shooting interviews at the Ranger Memorial. Its interesting because it centers around a huuuge Bayonet and the outside ring has a big Ranger sign.  Okay we'll shoot our guy, then his wife.  I decided to shoot the guy in the foreground of the Ranger tab but use a shallow depth of field so the ranger tab was blurred in the background.  It looked kind of interesting, we used a reflector to pop the backlit sun on his face.  Truth be told that was one shot that ended up looking like ass.  It was a hundred degrees out there, this guy was standing up getting blasted with a reflector and his wife was on the side kind of uncomfortable with the whole thing.  Now whats the lesson.  The "professional" guys who shot the same couple after us took the couple into the shade, sat them on a bench.  I'm sure their shot was pretty standard but I'm sure what they got out of the interview was a world away in terms of them being comfortable and at ease.  Which is important when your trying to tell a Soldier's story.

So note to self:  Subject first Composition second

Tags: benning

11:43 am: Day 4
15 Apr 03

What is it w/ these rain showers?  Its not suppose to rain like this.

Weiss had his child today.  Good for him.  Wish things were cooler w/ us but oh well... I don't regret anything.
Played Spades today and got whupped.  Cold, tired and sick.  When I woke up thought someone slapped me with some bricks. Saw a picture of a beautiful woman in a magazine and someone said it looked like Stacy.  I smiled and said, "yeah, it does doesn't it?"
Need to shower tomorrow.

Things to Remember:  The way I feel right now:  Kinda useless.

04:57 pm: Day 3

14 Apr 03

Went to the Ziggurat of Urr.  I guess the story is 4,000 B.C. King Abraham told his wife or his wife told him that she didn't want to live in the desert.  That she desired the mountains of Northern Iraq.  Well the king replied that he'd bring the mountains to her.  So he built the Ziggurat for her.  It use to stand much taller than it is now and 4,000 B.C. the miracle was it had running water at the top.

Anyway its only a mile away and its like a very different world.  A world of temples and goddesses.  Also witnessed a turkey slaugther.  (Leaving the tent) I look up and the Civil Affairs guys are holding up what looked like a huge bleeding vulture.  Seems they bought a turkey for seventeen bucks.  Remember steaming hot water lets you pull off the feathers quick.  They offered some but I have three days of crap in me and I'd like to have choice of when I let it go.  

Things to Remember:  How tall the steps to the Ziggurat steps were.  How the translaters eyes looked when he described Saddam's daily executions and the way his eyes looked when he said, "Killer."

10:15 pm: Day 2
13 Apr 2003

Went to Al-Nasariya today.  Its not exactly paradise.  It looks like the lot between two old buildings where a building once stood, except its a whole city.  Its broken glass and rubble and trash and people looking like a suzanne somers infomercial.  Donkeys and horses pulling Amish carts with wheels that might as well be made of stone.
There was a joy as we approached but in the eyes of a few, those dangerous few there were hard stares (of defeat?)  1SG got himself what a few months ago would have equaled a million dollars of dinar.  Hendrix got his son an Iraqi uniform.  I got a weapon that wouldn't chamber a round and theres no frustration like that frustration.
I'm tired and beat and no shower today. 
Oh yeah, I'm in Iraq.
Thats in the Middle East.
That's 6000 miles from Stacy.
And why does it feel like home?

Things to Remember:
The old do-wop playing as we drove from Al-Nasariyah (R-E-S-P-E-C-T, gimme some loving) and w/ the overcast skies I thought I was in Vietnam or Forrest Gump.  Also the steak the night of the war.  That T-bone was that good.

11:53 pm: Day 1
12 APR 2001

    Things are different than Camp Virginia.  One, this is Iraq.  Two, we now have officers :(  Three, there are no phones.   The town of  Safwan had the air of a movie: "This is not reality"  The kids kind of scared me.  I have three Soldiers who are out for the count.  Its funny how these are the ones who don't ever go to the gym.  Had "physical contact" with a Soldier today.  Officer said I made a fool of myself.  One point not to be forgotten is that he was not there.  If I see a Soldier ever dare get violent w/ one of my Soldiers, especially my females... Just like my wife, I would protect them with all I got.

    Hopefully, one day someone would do the same for me.  Could be dangerous though.  Think that is going to hurt me in the end.  Oh well, what can a boy do?

Things to remember:  Children in the streets of Safwan waving Iraqi money at us (w/ Saddams picture smiling back no less.)  Grabbing the air and putting their hands to their mouths... Burned tanks and semis next to the roads.
And that NCO's are professionals.  Wish I could remember that sometimes.

Tags: iraq

11:35 pm: The Iraq Diary: Getting back to my roots
I'm going to get back to the root of who I am:  A man who loves to write.

And I'm going to rediscover my love by revisiting an old journal.  The one I started the day I entered Iraq back in '03.  The writing is simple and easy.  I only had a chance to whip it out late at night as I was about to try and sleep.  At that point I was often exhausted and in some crappy cramped place.  Most of my writing won't make sense to you.  I just wanted to jot down a few triggers about images and feelings I didn't want to forget. 

The journal was a simple black journal about eight-inches long and five-inches wide.  It was given to me by my wife because she knew it was just perfect.

Tags: iraq

11:09 pm: RTNDAF
So I won a fellowship recently, the Radio-Television News Directors Association & Foundations Vada and Barney Oldfield National Security Reporting Fellowship.  I'm excited I just like having my work seen and critiqued.  Winning money and trips to Vegas are good perks too.  Everyone at work says I should use things like this to help me get a job when I leave the Army next summer.  The big thing is I really don't know how...

I have friends who will make their money by being a good networker.  They will simply talk their way into six figure jobs.  And honestly the ones I'm talking about are not ass kissers, they are just good people.  The kind of people you want around you on a daily basis.  For laughter and perspective and spilling the beans to. 

I'm not one of those people...  on first impressions anyways.

I'm socially awkward and have no idea how to entertain.  I can imagine the first impressions I've given over the years:

What the hell is this guy saying?  That he has a third nipple? 
This is the most foul-mouthed Filipino I've ever met, why is he sweating so much?
Are you going to let me talk?
If I hear, 'this one time in Iraq.' one more fucking time...
Why won't he look me in the eyes, he keeps staring off into space.
Yeah, that story about the drunk screaming at the girls behind their backs at the deaf school's happy hour- totally not funny.
Please stop with the ca ca stories.
I don't remember bringing up nipples.

That's probably the one thing that scares me the most out of being a future small business owner:  I have to sell myself and I'm not really sure how. I've always enjoyed the Tao part of the Army.  If you choose to you can just be.  If you want to kiss ass you can kiss ass.  If you don't want to you don't have to.   You can work hard or you can just  sort of attend.  Either way you know exactly how much your getting paid and you know you have a job.

How the hell do I take advantage of winning this thing... 


Tags: rtnda

11:15 am: Bunny Cowboy

12:57 pm: vertigo
so my shoulder pops out of joint occassionally.  I can do my push ups at a fast rate but if I move my arm a certain way, my shoulder dislocates my arm goes numb I scream out in pain and kind of pop my shoulder back into place.  Reaching for the alarm clock is one of the movements, so my wife has woken up to me screaming hatekilldestroy numerous times over the last couple years.

Ok, so I discover I have a torn rotater cuff.  After six months of missed appointments and various excuses I get an M.R.I. thursday around midnight.  The M.R.I. is one of the surrealist things I've experienced in my life.  I felt like I was being baked in an egg shell white cocoon for 50 minutes.  The contraster they injected me with seemed simple enough, a dye that will let my circulatory system visually pop on the scans.

I get home around three that morning, intent to get to work on time because I have a story to edit.

Alarm clock rings at seven...  I feel fine...  Get up to take a shower and all of a sudden the world is spinning like its the day after prom.  I'm yacking, running into walls and can't tell where up and down is.

What the fuck is this?

It's saturday afternoon.  I still can't walk around with out the vertigo.  This is not right.